What a Story ( Ma che storia... )

What a Story (DVD) (*)

$25.99

Original Title: Ma che storia...
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Venice Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Subtitles )
Italian ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Italian ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Italy ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
80 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)
Black & White

Movie filmed in 2010 and produced in:
Italy ( Italy, Greece )

Directed By:
Gianfranco Pannone

Written By:
Gianfranco Pannone

Actors:
Roberto Citran ..... Narrator
Roberto De Francesco ..... Narrator
Leo Gullotta ..... Narrator

Synopsis:

A tragicomic journey through history, via a long and tiring path towards Italian unity: Mazzini, Garibaldi, Cavour, Verdi… names that today seem far from us, but which are not so far after all. The "Risorgimento" was a revolution, welcomed as really and truly epic in the nineteenth century, but reduced in the following century by Italian 'dark forces'. Power, intellectuals and the people have made for a difficult relationship, often violent and not lacking cynicism, and which has obstructed the creation of a shared national feeling. The telling of this half epic is recounted via newsreels and documentaries, the Luce archive, from 1910 to the 1980s, which, not without rhetoric, span the history of the nation. A critical and bitter feeling, but also ironic, can be heard in the words of the writers and poets of different political and cultural backgrounds; and, in a true counter melody, in the sounds and expressions of the people, who sing their joy and pain in this rich and violent history. A country unable to begin to talk about itself, unable to work through its real grief, to look within, all reaching towards a false newness, which has ended up causing great tragedies born of foolish illusions. It's a country that you could pronounce dead, if it weren't for its extraordinary pages of literature and history and its unique anthropological heritage.

The documentary on Italian unification presented at the last edition of the Venice film festival. The author covers many years of Italian history through the newsreels and the highly precious documentaries of the Archivio Luce in Rome. The film tells the first 150 years of united Italy and ponders how Italy has created and has lived the contradictory myth of its birth as a nation in 1861. The movie is a tragic-comic journey in the Italian history which tells joys and pains of a complicated country. What emerges is a provocative interpretation of the events: politicians, intellectual and the rest of the population never integrated, while the cynicism increased during the years. According to the filmmaker most of the Italians don't have a feeling of national unity because of their complex history. The History of the epic deeds is made out of commentary films and documentaries of the Luce archive from the 1910 to the 1980 which crosses the national history through the words of politicians and poets, from Leopardi to the philosopher Norberto Bobbio, from Sciascia to Arbasino and Pascale, and many other testimonies. Folk music and songs, collected by Ambrogio Sparagna, alternate with the classical and popular arias of Giuseppe Verdi.

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 18 November, 2015.